translation: disengaged or disengaging step. As a dancer today you have to be so versatile. So many of us were trained with several different techniques so when it comes to teaching, especially young students, it can be difficult to decide what terminology to use. What most of know as degegé can also be called Glissé meaning gliding or Jeté meaning thrown. I use the term degegé while teaching because I feel it is the most commonly used. I prefer however the translation of Vaganova's Jeté. The word disengage does not trigger any sort of image that aids me in the step's execution. Thrown however does. When you throw something with your arm, there is a circular action that ends with a follow through in the direction in which you are trying to throw the object. You can see the energy emanate out of the arm in a direct line. I like this image for degagé. There is a brush into the floor creating a circular feeling and then a throwing action sending the energy out through the end of the toes. Another dance teacher friend of mine felt the complete opposite though. Disengage did more for her than throw. Funny how a single word can change how you do a movement and how it varies from person to person. Try the movement three times for yourself, once while saying each word (thrown, gliding, and disengage) and see how it affects how you do the movement. I would love to hear what you observe!

While working on this weeks word I stumbled upon this website Ballet Talk for Dancers.Click Here to view a discussion on this very topic.

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Term of the week

For people who are complete beginners to ballet, it can all be a little overwhelming. You are asking your body to do things that are completely foreign and you're asking your brain to work in a completely different way. On top of that your instructor is spitting out terms you have never heard before. Even for people who have been dancing a long time and hear the terminology every day from your teacher, you may never learn what all the different terms mean. Most ballet terms are derived from the French language. I am going to post a ballet term each week with it's meaning and a little bit about it. I am no ballet god so I am hoping that if any of my ballet nerd friends have anything to add, or disagree with anything I say, that they chime in and leave a comment. To be honest, with teaching ballet twice a week and only taking it about once a week I feel the vocab slowly slipping away from me. Not only is the purpose of this to educate others, it is meant to help me to keep up with what I feel is important to know. I am using Gail Grant's Technical Manual and Dictionary of Classical Ballet as a source for the direct translations and or definitions.